BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The 9th ranked Northampton men's basketball team jumped out to a 28 point first half lead, increased it to 60 with 3:58 remaining in the game and settled for a 101-52 victory over Passaic County Community College (NJ) on Thursday evening at the Arthur L. Scott Center. 

Mel Copeland (Allentown, PA/William Allen) led four Spartans in double-figures with 27 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the floor and 7 of 8 from the charity stripe.  Michael Marable (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Twp.) added 18 points and 9 rebounds, Gary Francis (Morrisville, PA/Pennsbury) had 14 and Amyr Fox (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East ) finished with 15 points, 7 assists, 6 steals and 4 rebounds. 

"We were able to play to our strength tonight," commented Head Coach Brennan McCarthy, "we like to get out and run and we were able to do that tonight due to the opportunities our defensive pressure created for us.  We were strong on the boards and (+18 advantage) and forced them into 36 turnovers and shot almost 50% from the field, so overall it was a fairly well-rounded effort.  Now we need to get back in the gym and prepare for a very good RVCC team on Saturday."

13 Spartans got into the scoring column as Northampton improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Region 19.

Passaic falls to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in Region 19.

The Spartans will return to action on Saturday when they host NJCAA Division II Raritan Valley Community College (3-0) at 2pm.